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ragingfluff 
"Currently lost in Canada"
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 Posted - 07/02/2007 : 18:44:22
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Like most of you, I am sure, I have certain film critics whose judgement I trust more than others. Perhaps we even pen the occasional review ourselves (longer than the four word kind)
In no particular order (this is not a BEST/WORST FILM CRITICS thread...I hate that kind of list-making  ), my favourites would include the late Pauline Kael, Richard Corliss, BaftaBabe (obviously!), David Shipman, Jim Emerson, Richard Schickel, A.O. Scott, Leslie Halliwell. Pretty much the entire staff of EMPIRE MAGAZINE. Roger Ebert is in a class by himself (you can interpret that positively or negatively). I grew up worshipping Barry Norman, but haven't seen or read anything of his in years, and the last thing I remember seeing of him was him sozzled at the Oscars (early 90s).
How about everyone else here? Any good critics I don't know about whose reviews I should really check out?
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ChocolateLady 
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 18:55:43
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The late, great, Gene Siskel always had the best reviews, in my opinion. He explained why he liked or disliked things much better than Ebert, and always seemed to come to every movie with no preconceptions. I always knew if I would agree or disagree with his opinions from his reviews. I miss him, terribly.
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ragingfluff
"Currently lost in Canada"
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 19:25:06
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quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
The late, great, Gene Siskel always had the best reviews, in my opinion. He explained why he liked or disliked things much better than Ebert, and always seemed to come to every movie with no preconceptions. I always knew if I would agree or disagree with his opinions from his reviews. I miss him, terribly.
I loved Siskel too but only saw him a few times. |
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MisterBadIdea
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 19:30:14
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The writers I respect the most are all online reviewers:
Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central: Truly a master of diving into the depths of a film, can write a pan like no one else in the world, and brilliant in conveying a movie's goodness or badness in a few short paragraphs.
Chaw on National Treasure: All it is, really, is astonishingly boring, terribly stupid, and, it bears repeating, boring. It's boring. (Also stupid.)
Alex Jackson of Film Freak Central/I Viddied It on the Screen: The critic I respect the most, I actually became his proofreader/HTML editor. He's basically just a young guy with a website, but he has a brilliant way of going really, seriously deep with his commentary on any given movie. Don't go to him looking for concise prose.
Jackson on Seabiscuit: I have been trying very hard to resist using toilet metaphors when describing bad films. It�s lazy writing and it�s unquestionably crude. But then comes along Seabiscuit, a euphemism for a turd if I ever heard one. (�Don�t go in there, I just pitched a Seabiscuit!�)
MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher: I disagree with MaryAnn all the freaking time, I actually don't like a lot of things she does and perhaps she's not a great critic. But she is a fabulously entertaining writer. Who else would write a two-person Mamet-style dialogue scene to review a David Mamet movie? Who else would write bad teen poetry to review the Britney Spears movie? And her review of Tomb Raider is just wonderful.
Johanson on Click:
SANDLER: And people like this shit? They need to be told that f**king Kate Beckinsale is better than goin� to work all the time?
MALE VOICE 1: They eat it up, sir. |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 19:33:52
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I think you kinda find a critic who speaks for you more often than not. Roger Ebert is kinder than I would be to many, but when he says, "Don't miss it," there's always a good reason. He's also far from a snob. Richard Roeper makes lots of sense too.
Tony Scott of the Times. David Edelstein of New York magazine -- one of the best writers in the game. Anthony Lane of the New Yorker is frequently meaner than I would be, but he's an excellent writer. |
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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 20:48:06
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quote:
Originally posted by ragingfluff
Like most of you, I am sure, I have certain film critics whose judgement I trust more than others. Perhaps we even pen the occasional review ourselves (longer than the four word kind)
In no particular order (this is not a BEST/WORST FILM CRITICS thread...I hate that kind of list-making ), my favourites would include the late Pauline Kael, Richard Corliss, BaftaBabe (obviously!),
Gosh, RagingF  I'm honoured indeed to be in such company! You may be interested in my latest film-related my piece on horror for The Morning Star
I'm hoping it will turn into a regular gig ... we'll see.
Meanwhile, see what you make of Mark Kermode ... you can download his podcasts from BBC Radio 5Live -- sometimes infuriating, and I don't always agree, but he's always good value!
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GHcool 
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 20:58:12
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Siskel was great and Ebert is probably my all time favorite. I used to watch the "Siskel & Ebert" TV series every week without fail, but after Siskel died, the has became progressively worse until now its almost as bad as "Hollywood On Set." I still read Ebert religiously, even though I think he's getting soft in his old age (he's given high praise to a lot of movies lately that were "just ok" in my opinion and given 2 and 3 star reviews for movies that I thought were awful).
Pauline Kael's insights are occasionally brilliant, but appeals to a more "ivory tower" sensibility that I find difficult to swallow. On the other end of the scale, I like the reviews that appear in Variety although they are lacking in brilliant insight and emphasize appeal to target audiences and box office potential. |
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ragingfluff
"Currently lost in Canada"
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 21:02:20
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[/quote]
Gosh, RagingF I'm honoured indeed to be in such company! You may be interested in my latest film-related my piece on horror for The Morning Star
I'm hoping it will turn into a regular gig ... we'll see.
Meanwhile, see what you make of Mark Kermode ... you can download his podcasts from BBC Radio 5Live -- sometimes infuriating, and I don't always agree, but he's always good value!
[/quote]
Great piece, BaftaB!
I always thought Mark Kermode was a gobshite |
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Shiv
"What a Wonderful World"
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 21:24:04
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| Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, the equivalent of Barry Norman in Australia. If Siskel and Egbert are the two who used to argue all the time, then they parallel them too. |
Edited by - Shiv on 07/02/2007 21:24:56 |
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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 07/02/2007 : 23:25:54
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quote:
Originally posted by ragingfluff
Gosh, RagingF I'm honoured indeed to be in such company! You may be interested in my latest film-related my piece on horror for The Morning Star
I'm hoping it will turn into a regular gig ... we'll see.
Meanwhile, see what you make of Mark Kermode ... you can download his podcasts from BBC Radio 5Live -- sometimes infuriating, and I don't always agree, but he's always good value!
[/quote]
Great piece, BaftaB!
I always thought Mark Kermode was a gobshite
[/quote]
Thanks again! 
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 07/03/2007 : 01:53:59
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None. 
I never read film reviews that are more than four words long. The only 'review' I'm interested in is the one formed from having 10,000 (or 50,000 or more) people watch a movie, score it out of 10, and average their scores.
Essentially I don't care what other people think of a movie (like I don't care if they like olives or Tsatthoggua or Jackson Pollock or not), all I want to know is whether or not to see a movie. The IMDb score tells me that.
I occasionally read discussions (after seeing a movie) on complex plot points or significance of imagery etc, for movies that I haven't fully understood. Useful discussions of that nature occur at fwfr or IMDb, I seldom need to look further to have my questions answered. |
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MisterBadIdea
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 07/03/2007 : 02:52:15
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| You deprive yourself of some inspiringly good writing and, hell, social commentary, Sean. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 07/03/2007 : 07:08:27
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quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
Siskel was great and Ebert is probably my all time favorite. I used to watch the "Siskel & Ebert" TV series every week without fail, but after Siskel died, the has became progressively worse until now its almost as bad as "Hollywood On Set." I still read Ebert religiously, even though I think he's getting soft in his old age (he's given high praise to a lot of movies lately that were "just ok" in my opinion and given 2 and 3 star reviews for movies that I thought were awful).
I noticed that myself, especially when I saw him and his new co-reviewer on Jay Leno a while back. He's still thought of as the "mean" one, but hasn't been living up to it lately.
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MM0rkeleb 
"Better than HBO."
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Posted - 07/03/2007 : 17:25:49
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I used to read mostly Gene Siskel and Michael Wilmington when I was in junior high, since at home we got the Chicago Tribune. Then Gene died and I went away to high school.
There I discovered Ebert online. He's still a favorite, and his writing is really engaging, even if he has gotten a little soft lately.
Another critic I read religiously for a while was this online freelancer Rob Gonsalves. He used to post reviews once a week on his site www.robsmovievault.com but these days only posts on Efilmcritic. You can still find some good archived reviews on his site (the Patch Adams) review is especially funny.
Another online critic deserving mention is MaryAnn Johnson. Most times, she rubs me the wrong way (for example, she's aggressively anti-religion), but sometimes she gets really creative ideas for a review. To see what I mean, check out her reviews for Spartan, Kill Bill: Volume 2, and The Emperor's Club (probably the funniest review I've ever read).
More recently I've been reading Manohla Dargis, who's very good, and would be the best critic for the Times if it weren't for their recent acquisition of Matt Zoller Seitz, who I've just discovered and is now my favorite of all. For now his writings for the Times are pretty limited, but if you go to his blog The House Next Door and check out some of his longer reviews (say, Perfume, The Fountain, Live Free or Die Hard, or Premonition), they're incredible. |
Edited by - MM0rkeleb on 07/03/2007 17:26:24 |
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duh 
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 07/03/2007 : 19:19:48
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| I don't know that I am a 'fan' but I find Michael Medved interesting. |
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 07/03/2007 : 21:19:19
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| Don't forget Joe Bob Briggs! |
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Film Critics You Admire
